three had not eaten in three days. At Lopez's next stop, the home of a couple
with five children, mother Daniela Monsilla was asked what her family would do
if they did not receive the groceries on a weekly basis. "Without the food, we'd
... ," Monsilla paused, shaking her head side to side, "do what we can." After
another pause, Monsilla added, "Go out and beg. Lately, thank God, we haven't.
For the most part, we get by." Monsilla said her husband works odd jobs when he
can, but like others in the cash-strapped town, she said work is extremely hard
to find. The Palomas mayor's office sponsored a Christmas party for needy
families on Friday and Saturday because many residents said they would not be
able to give their children any presents this year. Mayor Garcia reached out to
church groups in the United States to help make it happen. Mexico has been
ravaged by bloody battles between drug cartels fighting over trafficking routes
and police and troops fighting the cartels. More than 1,500 people have been
killed in Juárez this year, and the violence has spread to Palomas — a town that
for many years has been a staging ground for people crossing illegally into New
Mexico to seek work in the United States. In and around Palomas, 46 people were
killed and 18 others disappeared in a little over 12 months, said Garcia, the
mayor. Lopez, the social service worker, estimated that 40 families in Palomas
lost a head of household in the violence. Despite repeated assertions by Palomas
residents that those not involved in drug trafficking were safe from harm, the
drug violence, which has largely abated since the summer, has spooked not only
many residents but Americans who frequented the town's pharmacies and dental
clinics. Loss of income The town's population, which had been about 12,800, has
shrunk to an estimated 8,000 residents, Garcia said. "Some left out of fear,
some for lack of jobs," said Garcia, noting restaurants, pharmacies and hotels
have closed. "Small businesses went under, and that was the majority of the
jobs." In addition, increasingly tough border enforcement, such as the
construction of miles of fence and the prosecution of apprehended immigrants,
has virtually halted illegal border crossings from the Palomas area. That has
meant a loss of income to hotels, convenience stores and restaurants that served
the stream of immigrants who used to steadily flow through town — on their way
to crossing the border into southwest New Mexico, Interstate 10 and other states
with bigger cities and more jobs.

"This town is dead now," said 68-year-old Ramon Rojo, who has worked loading
trucks and selling ice cream in the summer. Garcia said Mexican state government
aid is minimal. Groups around New Mexico have reached out to offer help to the
people of Palomas. Two Las Cruces activists recently collected a truckload of
food, clothing and blankets to be divided among the mayor's office, a local
senior center and a Palomas-based cooperative founded by members of a Columbus
religious community. A Santa Fe-based, non-denominational church, the Light at
Mission Viejo, hauled down Christmas presents — clothing, a pair of shoes and a
toy — for 330 children identified by local churches. Fifteen elderly women
sponsored by the mayor will also receive gifts. Light at Mission Viejo
volunteers have hauled about 1,000 pounds of rice, beans and flour to Palomas on
a monthly basis for the last year and a half. Holden and other members of the
Columbus-based Our Lady of Las Palomas Hermitage and Retreat Center have
collected money for the last three months — from $75 to $200 each week — to turn
over to Lopez to buy groceries for needy families. Three young people from
Silver City, who attended a Dec. 12 prayer vigil at a wooden cross several
hundred yards from the Columbus port of entry, said they planned to host an
informational meeting in Grant County to solicit help for Palomas families. A
flier recently circulated in Las Cruces by two activists collecting donations
said that more than half of Palomas' population was "on the brink of
starvation." Mayor Garcia said that residents are not actually starving to death
but that "hunger is a daily experience" for many here, and that the problem has
worsened over the last year.
'It means we eat' Standing outside his unpainted home
on the edge of Palomas, his calloused hands stuffed in his pockets, unemployed
brickmaker Antolin Holguin said the weekly bag of groceries from Lopez was
sorely needed. "It's necessary in this day and age when there's no work. Hey, it
means we eat," Holguin said, as his four children stood silently nearby. "We
love to work, but right now, what can we do?" "I won't abandon you," Lopez told
the family. In Palomas, Esperanza Lozoya, a Chicago-born resident who has lived
in town for about three years, founded a nonprofit called La Luz de Esperanza
that provides school supplies to local students and, increasingly, food for the
hungry. Operating with donations supplied by Americans, Lozoya operates a food
pantry and on Dec. 1 opened a senior center that provides lunch daily to about
two dozen elderly residents.

Lozoya said she believes that, for most of her clients, the lunch they get at
the senior center is their only meal of the day. One client, Apolonio Acosta, an
unemployed 63-year-old, said that was true in his case. "There's no work. ...
It's one meal per day at best," Acosta said. "I'm not going to lie to you.
Sometimes, I don't have anything to pay electricity, to pay for water. I've got
a little heater. Sometimes, I turn it on."
How to help Anyone wishing to sponsor a child or elderly person through
Esperanza Lozoya's nonprofit organization may write to: Donations may be made to
Our Lady of Las Palomas Retreat Center a nonprofit organization, Hunger Project,
P.O. Box 622, Columbus, NM, 88029, or call 575-531-1101, donations are tax
deductable.